Damage Control
by Eren-get-in-my-jaeger
Summary: No matter how damaged they were, one thing was for sure. They needed each other. Set after "Notorious." Oneshot. OptimusxOC


**This is a side-story to "Notorious." I just wanted to show the effects of what OP and his mate, Zora, had to go through after the events that took place earlier. If you haven't read Notorious, don't worry, you'll catch on quickly.**

**I've rated it T, surprisingly, because it doesn't have the blood/gore/horror affect Notorious does. But do be warned, there is some sexual content and mentions of past drug use.**

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><p>Optimus dreaded the word vacation.<p>

Vacations for him were nonexistent. A hoax. A conspiracy of some sorts. He had never taken one in the entire millennium that he had been alive, had never thought that he would. Certainly not one on Earth, where the humans ruled and the machines drooled.

It wasn't the idea of a vacation that had bothered him, it was the idea of being away from work, away from the N.E.S.T troops he adoringly spent his time protecting and training and teaching. He was still flooded with paperwork, had yet to miss a meeting, especially after the defeat of Drake Talent and the destruction of the bugs.

Had yet to miss a meeting even though, just a week ago, he was writhing around on the medical berth, cut open, bugs eating him alive. He had been screaming and begging for salvation, and the human government was giving it to him, Zora, Mikaela, Bumblebee, Sam, and a few others in the form of a one way trip to one of their island, free from any other humans and off the coast of Florida so they could get back in a moments notice.

Back to Zora's home state. But the girl had made it clear that she didn't want anything to do with the place anymore. To many defeats. To many deaths and memories. Optimus had no doubt that she would be in favor of never returning to Synapsis, Florida, again.

He would vouch for her if the time ever came to decide. He hated the place, too. And for different, even more horrifying reasons.

Zora practically threw her bags onto the bed when they arrived, refusing to meet Optimus' eye. His holoform stood behind her, tan arms crossed over a broad chest. She was staring out the window, at the crashing blue waves that caught the light perfectly, out past the horizon, far, far away to the coast of Florida. Thinking about her old home. Hating it still.

But he could tell that she was damaged, just like the rest of them. He didn't like to pull the images back to his processors, but he had to admit it. She had been – and possibly still was – addicted to prescription drugs. He remembered finding them – well, Wheelie had found them on one of his "cleansing raids," a pretext meaning that he was just snooping through her underwear drawer.

He had brought them to Optimus and Optimus had been appalled. Disgusted. But at the same time, sympathetic.

Her ability – if he could call it an ability and not a curse – were centered around pain. Hate, fear, self-loathing. It was the only way she could activate them. Sad, but not to sad because Optimus knew that she disliked the notion just as much as he did.

So she had shut them out, shut out the painful aftermath of using her power by taking various degrees of medication that no one, not even Ratchet, had prescribed to her.

"I blame Lennox for this," Zora said gruffly, but Optimus caught the slight hint of sarcasm. "This is a _forced_ vacation. Should've put all of us in an asylum instead."

"Primus knows some of us would benefit from _that_," Optimus' arms curled around her waist, and he breathed into her hair. He could feel her gaunt, underweight form through the silk material of her shirt. He sighed, and he felt her crane her neck to look up at him.

"What?"

"Have you been eating?" Optimus stroked her cheek with one finger. "You know what Ratchet said about your diet."

"I'm just never hungry anymore," Zora shrugged and said, "But c'mon. We're in the Caribbean. They have all sorts of good seafood and stuff….I'll probably gain ten pounds by the time we get out of here."

Optimus chuckled and kissed the top of her head, picking up the slightest sound of shuffling feet.

Sam and Mikaela's voices drifted from under the door, and Optimus turned and said, "Come in."

Sam poked his head through first. Mikaela was next, her black hair pulled back, twirling a pair of sunglasses in her hand. She glanced at Optimus, and then at Zora, who had sunk into his embrace.

"Hey, Arcee said she'd drive us along the beach if you want. I mean, if you two aren't busy or anything," Mikaela said enthusiastically. "Sam and Optimus can have some….guy talk or whatever."

Optimus looked down at Zora. The redhead girl smiled, and nodded.

"Sounds like my kind of drive."

And then she was gone, kissing Optimus on the cheek before pulling away and bounding out the door, Mikaela right on her heels.

"I feel obliged to go with them, but Arcee can only drive two people," Sam shrugged and shut the door. He walked over to the balcony, the wind buffeting his dark hair. "Dude, you guys get the best seat in the house. Great view and all."

"I suppose."

Sam turned. "What's bothering you, big guy?"

Optimus' hand wandered absently down to his stomach, fingers clenching into the material of his shirt. Even in this form, he could feel it.

_"Ratchet! Primus, please, do it now!"_

_"Don't give up, Prime. Whatever you do, don't. Give. Up!"_

Ratchet's words, his nightmare. His horrible, appalling nightmare that he couldn't delete from his processors.

"Oh," Sam nodded, understanding. His eyes held pity and sadness and something else Optimus couldn't identify. "I…I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"It's hard not to," Sam sat on the edge of the bed, toying with the white sheets between his finger. "I was there, remember? Detrition of the mind. It's what everyone is going through."

"Our minds are falling apart?" Optimus inquired, tilting his head.

"PTSD. You of all people should know what that means," Sam glanced out the window, and Optimus could see them. Arcee and Zora and Mikaela, Mikaela doubled over in peels of laugher as Arcee fishtailed around in the receding waves, splashing water at Zora, who in turn splashed her back. Sam said, "And Zora, too."

"She's a different story."

Sam looked up at him, his mouth pulled into a thin line.

"I shudder to ask."

"I shudder to tell," Optimus remarked. "But it has something to do with….."

"Addiction. Drugs," Sam waved a hand. "I've seen her. She's as thin as a pole and isn't getting any better. She has that distant look all the time, like she really isn't in the room."

"I would have thought…." Optimus shook his head. "I would have thought that it was just Drake. Nothing more. The pain of losing him pierced her like an arrow, Sam, and I just don't know what to do."

Sam was silent. And then, fingers interlocking, the dark circles under his eyes more prominent than ever, he said, "You just have to be there for her."

Optimus couldn't agree more.

* * *

><p>That night, after a hardy dinner over a campfire, Optimus monitoring the way Zora picked at her food and barely ate, the couple found themselves alone in their rooms.<p>

Zora changed into her nightgown, the brief glimpse of her bare back showing the scar from where she had been stabbed just a year ago. It still looked fresh, a jagged line protuberant against pale skin. When she turned back around, she was smoothing out her fire-red hair.

"Tomorrow, we're going to the beach," she smiled weakly. "Just the two of us. Just so you can be in your bipedal form for a little while, you know? Stretch out those long legs of yours."

Optimus' holoform smiled, eyes closed, head resting against a pillow. He draped a hand across his forehead, and he felt the bed dip to accommodate Zora's weight.

She pulled his hand away and kissed him on the lips, softly, briefly. "Ignoring me, are we?" She said.

Both she and Optimus chuckled. It was a short laugh, a snort, almost. Optimus tried to sit up, but was forced back down by two hands. She slid her legs over to straddle his waist, pressing her forehead against his.

A thumb stroked her cheek. Optimus smiled, eyes still closed.

"You seemed to be enjoying today."

"The dinner was the best part. That shrimp was rad."

She barely ate anything. Optimus sighed, and she sat up, leaning back on her haunches.

"Okay, I know. I played with it," Zora waggled a finger. "But I ate one."

"One was not enough," Optimus said. "Zora, please….Ratchet will have a few words to say once we get back. Be glad he is not here, or he would be force-feeding you."

Ratchet was back in Florida, along with Ironhide. Tending to his missing arm and legs. Lennox and Epps had loads of meeting to attend, Ratchet chosen to be Optimus' proxy.

He felt sorry for the mech. They had spoken across the link for a while after dinner, Ratchet informing him that the situation back at N.E.S.T had come to a temporary standstill. The Decepticon's had disappeared, and Optimus credited that to Zora. She had fought, and nearly beaten Megatron.

His mate. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and quickly broadened when Zora kissed his again. Her lithe fingers crept up under Optimus' shirt, and, in a mad frenzy, he sent a pulse through his holoform, causing the shirt to disappear.

Zora stared down at his body, grinning like a shark. Her fingers ran up his arms, to the side of his face. Her kisses were hungry and full of need.

They hadn't mated yet, and Optimus knew why. Too much going on. To much mourning and loss and work and meeting and anger and despair…..

This was the first night they had to themselves. And Optimus wanted to make the most of it.

"Just forget about everything going on…." Zora's soft mewl as his hands slid up her nightgown almost undid him right then and there, his hands snaking in between her thighs, across her stomach and the smooth skin of her chest. She closed her eyes, and Optimus soaked in the pleasure, the sensations.

His fingers slid across her back, across the horrific reminder of the agony she had endured. She did not flinch or reel back or hiss. He was the only individual on the planet who she trusted to touch her there.

Her nails shot up to dig into his shoulders when he tore through her nightgown, already in a pleasure induced haze that he didn't think he would ever return from. His lips found hers, and she leaned into the kiss eagerly. Eagerly enough so Optimus had to ease her back down under him, her fingers sliding across his tan chest.

He kissed her forehead. Her nose, and then her lips.

"I love you," he breathed into her ear, and he gave her one of her signature side smiles, chocolate brown eyes twinkling. He assisted her in tossing her nightdgown aside, fingers tracing patterns against her bare flesh. His finger's found her swollen, round nipples, and she gasped at the contact.

Her breasts were so soft - nothing like Optimus had ever experienced. He could feel a slight sensation in his lower abdomen and around his hips. His human body was reacting.

Zora worked on his pants, tugging at the tight material. His belt came loose and she eagerly ducked down, shushing Prime and easing him onto his back.

"Let me," she murmured. "Please."

"Zora..."

"No," she glanced up. "No. Just...relax, baby. Relax."

He gulped and nodded. He wasn't used to the sudden exposure - he shifted and his holoform rippled before coming back into focus, his pants and shirt having disappeared.

Then her lips were on him. His hips bucked - the contact was foreign, yet delightful. Optimus stifled a sudden groan, content to just sink deeper into the soft mattress and the white sheets. Zora grasped his thighs, lifting up her head as her lips ran across him.

"My love," Optimus grunted. "Zora, dearspark.."

She kissed her way back up his chest, and he relished the feeling of her mouth against his skin. And Primus, did he love the taste of her lips...sweet, like sugar. He held her face between his hands and melted against her touch.

"Prime," Zora murmured against his lips. "Optimus. I love you."

"I love you as well, dearspark."

It wasn't just love that Optimus felt for Zora - no, it was something much, much greater. His spark, the very essence of his being, yearned to be with her.

He'd stop his own spark a thousand times just to see her beautiful, smiling face. And the thought of her, dead, gone, whatever, it made him start to shake. Oh, Primus, what if the bugs had gotten to her? What if she had been the one, split open, screaming, dying -

"Optimus?"

Optimus was shaking, his holoform struggling to even sit upright. He felt Zora's fingers stroking his hair and he gripped her tightly, pressing soft kisses against her throat.

"I can't lose you," he breathed. "I can't. I can't let you become a casualty of this war..."

"Optimus," Zora murmured. "You aren't going to lose me. I'm right here with you, right here, right now. Present. Stay in the present, with me. Don't worry about the future," she pressed a gentle kiss against his forehead. "I want you to take me - make me yours."

He did.

She was so soft and warm, like velvet. With each little jolt of ecstasy, her toes curled and her nails raked across his bare back - Optimus found the most sensitive part of her throat and planted his mouth against it, making sure to suck on the smooth, warm flesh.

After, he lay next to her, the bedsheets wrapped around his hips - Zora had slid from the bed to open the windows just a tad, revealing the vast expanse of ocean.

No Decepticons.

No bugs.

Her bare skin seemed ethereal in the moonlight, so smooth and tan, freckled. She crawled back into bed, settling next to Prime and resting her head against his bare chest. Optimus pulled the sheets across her body as she pressed herself closer against him.

"Sleep, dearspark," Optimus murmured, pressing a gentle kiss against the top of her head.

And sleep she did.

* * *

><p>Even the next day, as Zora kicked up a spray of water and ran through the surf, Optimus still hadn't gotten over the effects.<p>

It had been incredible, taking her like that. Having her soft skin against his, even if his was a kind of illusion.

Beautiful.

Her red hair whipped in the breeze. He could see her bathing suit underneath the white shirt she had on, and Optimus desperately wanted her to take off the shirt. He, like every other man or mech or whatever you wanted to call them, enjoyed certain sights to ogle at, even if his were a little more peculiar than most Cybertronians out there.

Half a mile away, down the beach, Arcee chased Bumblebee around with a small crab in her hand. Bee, like the little scout he was, would warble away when Arcee approached, hiding behind Sam and Mikaela, who were both laughing so hard at this point that they wouldn't provide any real protection.

Zora splashed through the receding surf, looked back at the scene, and shook her head in amusement.

"Do you want to joint them?" Optimus', who had taken to his bipedal form, walked along the edge of the waves, careful not to step in it. The hot sun beat down on his armor, and it felt somewhat refreshing. Better than the feel of salt water seeping between his joints.

"Nah. I told you that this was an 'us,' day," Zora cocked a hip to the side. "We'll see them at dinner. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker and the others should be docked there by then. Plus, we already had an…. 'us' night," she winked.

Optimus tried not to grin, but he way he was rocking back and forth on his pedes betrayed him. He said, "You and Sunstreaker will get along, I presume."

"He doesn't screw with me anymore," Zora raised her hands and showed Optimus her palms, a seemingly harmless gesture to anyone who didn't know better. "He's taken to calling me 'laser girl.' Like I'm part of the X-Men or something."

"The title fits."

"Eh. Mikaela suggested fire-fist," she kicked lazily at the water. "I sort of like that one. Fits better."

"I couldn't agree more," Optimus nodded and knelt down, easing onto his rear. The motion was slow, and an ordinary person would have thought of it as lazy. But Zora knew him like the back of her hand, like a mate always should, and she saw his discomfort.

"Steady, big guy," she said, walking across the sand to place a hand against his leg. "Don't want to be spraining anything now, do we?"

"That's the least of my worries," Optimus said. His mate's white shirt was soaked, the black material underneath showing through. But he also noticed her ribs. Prominent.

He hadn't noticed the other night, when they had been making love. But he saw it now, plain as day.

He got onto her. "Zora, your diet hasn't improved. And I've caught you in the bathroom with..." Optimus choked on the next words, and decided that it was enough. She got the picture.

"I know. And I'll do better."

"Is that an empty promise?"

Zora shook her head, bit her lips, and then said, "I don't know, Optimus. I….I don't know. It's like I can't stop or start or do anything."

Optimus looked up at the setting sun, and the twinkling water. It was beautiful, really, what this planet was capable of. He couldn't argue. No one could argue, and he looked down at his mate with sadness

"Zora, I love you."

"I love you, too," tears glistened on the edge of Zora's eyes. She rested her forehead against the metal of his leg.

"You have to do this for me. For all of us. For Drake," Optimus stroked a finger down her back. "You're dying, Zora. I can't lose you now."

He imagined her, getting more and more of those horrible pills and drowning herself in her own consumption of those hated good. The idea was awful to think about.

And she needed him.

_"Well, sometimes they have A, B, C, or, 'all of the above,'" Zora said. "Well, sometimes you have to choose 'all of the above.' The world needs all of the above. They need you, and Sam, and Mikaela, and Lennox, and Epps, and Ratchet, and Ironhide, and Bumblebee, and everyone else. Remember that."_

All of it was killing her. Killing them. The hate, the rage, the betrayal, the agony, the stress, the ideas, the warning, the deaths.

Hell. She had endured hell, and as Optimus stared out at the twinkling sea, one thing was for sure

She would prevail.


End file.
